Unwind
by Nalana
Summary: A late night conversation with Logan leads to something that leaves Marie in a worse state of confusion then before. She is set to one of the most difficult decisions she’s faced: stay with a safe bet or risk loosing it all?
1. Bursting

Disclaimer: If I owned them, not only would I be stinkin' rich, but also this gift would have been given much sooner!

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Water crashed in around her. Her attempts to breath left her lungs burning. Her nostrils ached in protest as she tried to force the liquid out of her body and drag in oxygen. Her limbs failed as she tried to swim. But the life-liquid was too vast, to heavy.

Suddenly, the water dispersed. The female plummeted through space until her body crashed into ground. The land around her resembled the baked mud of a savannah water hole in the dry season. Marie pushed the water from her lungs in a few desperate coughs creating a pool of mud around her bruised cheek.

She struggled to pull herself up to her knees. Unblinking she glanced ahead of her. Heat distorted her vision in every direction. Through the temperature waves she distinctively saw an all to familiar figure.

"John!" She shouted out, stretching an arm towards the figure of her friend. The boy only stared at her, flicking the top to his lighter open and close compulsively. With a final switch of the cover off, and a slip of the thumb, a small yellow flame sprang up. The mutant allowed the flame to grow and take the shape of a dome, enclosing Marie.

"No! John, stop!" Marie pleaded as the circle came in closer and closer. She whimpered as the ground beneath her feet began to sizzle. The mud she had created began to bubble. The skin of her hands turned red and blistered before blacking and crumbling away before her eyes...

"NOOOO!" Sweat drenched and quivering, Rogue flew up in her bed only to feel a pillow hit her in the face.

"Geez, Marie!" One of her roommates whined. "Why don't you just tell someone about this so we can get some friggin' sleep for once!" The sleepy girl huffed, her judgment clouded with exhaustion from rather intense training.

As she lay back down, Marie sent her fingers down to her wrist. She mentally slapped herself when she realized that the chain she had worn there was gone. She had given it back.

The teenager was used to nightmares. She could never shake them. Horrors were always with her. None of them usually were this intense or apparent, though.

There had been a time right after Liberty Island when they had become nearly unbearable. Fear of being called weak forced her not to go for help. Instead she would lay back down and breath deeply. Marie would raise the ragged dog tag over her head and swing it back and forth, letting the moonlight from the windows highlight the letters on it one by one. She would focus solely onto those letters until she could feel her shoulders relax.

Then came the harder part. Marie would close her eyes, and let each muscle of her body turn to mush as she sank into a form of mediation. This only had one downfall. Doing this left her feeling available. When that happened, her mind always drifted off to the same spot.

Her eyes would run over the one time she had felt completely safe. The night she had run away from the School and ended up on the train. True, that night ended in disaster. But for a few moments, when she had been in Logan's arms, she had felt at peace. He, who knew what she, could do without wishing to first hand, had kept her close despite everything around them. For the first time, she hadn't been shunned.

Marie's eyes watered now. Forcing her eyes closed cut off the waterworks, but not the frustration. Taking another breath she swung out of bed and crept out of the room quietly. There was no need to wake anyone else up this evening.

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The building was still as she made her way to the kitchen. It appeared that she was the only one who wasn't finding sleep this evening. Not even the kitchen had an individual sneaking a midnight snack.

Turning to the stove, she put on a kettle of water. She thought of nothing except what her hands were doing as she opened up one of the cupboards in search of the tea bags. Marie couldn't help think of how Bobby would roll his eyes at her and tell her she was turning into an old maid as he did every time she drank tea.

But Bobby wasn't here now. For some reason, she was glad. When John had left them, and Jean disappeared underneath the lake, he had clung onto her. She had done her share of clinging as well, but Marie had always liked a little space to figure things out for herself. If she didn't...well… she had been anticipating the nightmare that had hit her tonight.

"Do you usually roam at three in the morning?" Rogue was pouring the steaming water into a mug when the voice made her freeze.

"Hey! Watch out there." She blinked several times as a pair of rough, wide; hands took the kettle from her right before the boiling water came to the mug's rim.

Shaken, she looked up at the man who had intruded in on her thoughts. She was just grateful that she hadn't sent the kettle to the floor to greet her bare feet. Marie couldn't explain why she felt frozen now, but her body felt as if it had been shaken back into the real world from a dream far to fast.

"Hey, kid...You okay?" Logan frowned as he put the teapot down onto the burner guards.

"Ye..yea." She cleared her throat. I was just thinking to hard, I guess." She shot him her normal smile. Suddenly she was extremely conscious of the sweat-lathered tank top she harbored and how pleasant that must smell to his overly sensitive nostrils. "Oh, uh, I'm sorry... I would have taken a shower..."

She was surprised when he made a sound that laid somewhere between a grunt and a laugh. He just shook his head and grabbed another mug. Switching some of the water into the new cup and adding more from the kettle, he plopped in two of the tea bags she had fetched.

"Don't worry about it. I've smelled much worse." Logan shrugged casually. "Grab some milk will ya? And put your eyes back into your head. If we had anything a lot...er..._stronger_ than this, I'd be choking down that. But since we're in an... educational environment," he noted sarcastically, "I suppose doses of caffeine will have to do."

To anyone else he would have bluntly blabbered, "you reek." But not to her. Besides, it wasn't so much the scent of the sweat that bothered him. It was how her skin was still crawling, and how her heart hadn't slowed down from an adrenaline rush. And by her distraught mannerisms, he would guess that it wasn't from a pleasurable rush.

When she passed him the milk he simply nodded to her and poured a measure into both cups, not asking if she liked it in hers or not. He didn't really seem to care. He was concerned, and that was consuming his thought too much for courtesy to sneak through.

"Say, the couch is free and the room's empty for once. Why don't we go in there, sit down?" He tried to sound casual, but he couldn't tell if it was working. No one would ever say that Wolverine was the best people person there ever was.

When the two made their way into the couch, they simply sat there. Marie curled her legs up to her chest as she sipped on the hot beverage. Logan sprawled out to his satisfaction.

The experimentally formed mutant stared down at his cup. He sure as hell didn't know what to say. Should he confront her about her state? But was it really his place?

"You don't have your tag on anymore." He turned his head to see Marie staring at his accessory-less upper chest.

"That? Oh. I let it go with the scumbag it came with. Got rid of some bad memories." He growled, taking a long sip from his own cup.

"Oh..." Marie fell quiet again. The male tried to ignore the twinge of disappointment he thought he detected in her voice.

"So...You and Bobby, huh?" He tried to quickly change to subject to something that might be a bit more cheerful.

"Yea...I guess." Marie gave a half smile that contained little to no sincere ness in it. She just fiddled with her cup. Her silence was driving him nuts.

"How can ya' guess?" Logan's eyebrows shot up with curiosity. "Or is he more sure of you two then you are?"

"I guess you could say that..." She gave him another short response.

Logan sat his cup down onto the stand in front of him and let his head roll to the side. He observed Marie for a few minutes while she seemed oblivious to his glance. Her own eyes were fixed on the discarded cup.

He took in her now greasy hair, her crumpled pajama bottoms, and wrinkly top. He chuckled at the fresh silver paint on her toe and fingernails. They almost looked like little claw nubs. As he looked at her nails, he noticed how tightly she was clutching onto the mug by the white of her knuckles.

Leaning over he pried her fingers away from the object and sat it down beside his. Her irises widened in fear, like a child who's security blanket had just been ripped away.

He hated that look. 

"What's wrong? Don't try to bull shit me, either." He couldn't put up with anyone dancing around things with lies.

Marie dodged his gaze and looked to her feet. She shrugged her shoulders, exhaling. She could feel him about to speak, so she forced everything out in one breath.

"Everything's so screwed up. I can't stop these dreams I've been having. Everyone's scared. They just don't want you to see it. The little kids wake up crying, too. It's not just me who has nightmares. But we're all so independent we can't move past our stubbornness."

"They're all afraid that more people will disappear. They're scared that John isn't going to come back, that he's really going to turn on us. And if he does, who's to say more of us won't? And that will mean this place really ISN'T a safe haven. It's just a third division."

"And then there's Cy—Scott." She continued on in one enormous ramble. "He won't talk to us. Can't he see that he's not the only one who misses her? He wasn't the only one who stood there and couldn't do anything! What good is any of your abilities if we have to watch a friend die!"

"And Bobby, ha! Ya' know, I kissed him that day at his house?" She told him nonchalantly. " Yea. First attempt was great. Second I almost turned him into a corpse! He's so frustrated, but he tries to hide it. I can't TAKE that, Logan! It's not fair to him, but what makes me feel worse, is I don't even CARE."

"With so much happening, I can't afford to feel ashamed of my inability to control my power. I can't feel bad about not being able to be an ideal girlfriend. I just can't be perfect. I'm breaking, and it feels like no one can see it! I don't want them to. I've depended on too many people already!"

Tears were flowing down her face freely now. She had begun to choke on her words after her third breath of rambling. Marie clung to her knees and tried not to rock back and forth. It was making her sick to think that she was openly crying.

Logan frowned deeply as he listened to the teenager talk. He had been so caught up in the past few days that he had been negligent to the one he had promised he'd protect. Guilt rippled through him.

"Hey, hey, hey..." He whispered, scooting over closer to her and pulling an arm around her. "It's okay, it's alright kid. C'mere." He whispered to pull her towards him again.

Pushing aside how miserable this whirling of emotions was making her feel, she sank into Logan's chest, careful to keep her palms inwards to her own body. She didn't care how weak she felt right now. She needed this. She needed to be held, to be protected.

"Marie...You can't blame any of them that you mentioned. We're all a little scared of what might happen' with your friend. You can't blame Bobby, he is a teenage boy ya' know." His eyes sparkled a bit when he heard her snort at that comment. "And Scott...Hell, he lost the love of his life. You can't expect him to..."

"You can't..." Logan stopped. "Aw hell! When did I start becoming all motherly? Ack. All of these rug rats are rubbing off on me!" He joked, glad to see her smirk slightly.

Marie's eyes went wide for a moment. It had just hit her. She looked up at Logan with clear eyes.

"...I'm sorry, Logan." She whispered.

"For what?" He crinkled his nose at her.

"...I...I know how you...how you...felt...about Dr. Grey." The words sounded like she had to cough up a cactus to say them. "And, I know how hard going to that facility was. I'm sorry that I poured all that stupid shit out to you. I didn't even stop to think...That...That your hurting, too."

Wolverine blinked several times, absorbing the shock that came from her words.

He had always tried to keep as closed up as possible. It didn't make sense to worry others. And though his affections towards Jean had been painstakingly apparent, he didn't think that Rogue would have commented on them.

In some way, he had liked to pretend that she didn't see what was going through his mind concerning the doctor. It was bliss to think that maybe Rogue still harbored a girlish crush on him. Those hopes had been shattered the moment Bobby had introduced himself to him. It still surprised him how he had been almost disappointed to hear it. That thing he wouldn't admit.

As for the discovery of who he was 'made' by, he hadn't told anyone much about it. But, it seemed that rumors spread fast. With the intensity of the past few weeks, he wasn't that surprised. He only wondered what had been said.

"Don't worry about me." He said simply, brushing away her white bangs from her face. "I heal quickly, remember? Besides, she liked the 'good guys' as she called 'em."

Logan's mind drifted back to that night. In the same evening Mystique had tried to seduce him, taking the form of Jean, and then flashing the forms of the other two faces of the females present. He nearly shivered as he recalled the imitation of Marie hovering over him.

"Besides...The cut wasn't that deep." He cleared his throat before straightening up a little. "And, I still got my best gal' here." He nudged her playfully, making her eyes smile.

"...Ya' know...When the back of the jet was ripped out," His mood turned serious,

"I don't know if I was more scared for. I didn't know to be afraid for us or of the fact that I almost lost ya' again. I guess I'm not doing my job of being a guardian to you very well, am I?"

Marie didn't laugh at his attempt of a joke. She didn't find it funny. She found it touching. That coming from Wolverine was the closest thing to a sentimental comment you were probably going to get.

Logan didn't comment on her silence. He just flipped away the straying hair that had fallen back from where he had placed it. This time, he tucked it behind her ear. When

He was done he rubbed his thumb across her eyebrow and forehead thoughtfully.

"Promise me one thing, kid." He finally whispered. "Don't ever hold anything back

from me this long again. You shouldn't have to hold on to stuff that long. If ya' do, your eventually burst. And I don't want to be picking up pieces of you. And we'll never get the stench out of the rug."

Rogue smiled and nodded her consent.

"Good."

He stopped caressing her skin. His eyes fell across her face thoughtfully. At this proximate he could hear her heart pounding in his ears. It had calmed down. Her breathing was soft and normal. She seemed to be fine.

Logan dropped his hand slightly to cradle her jaw in his fingers. Gently, he pulled her up to him. He could hear that same heart speed up and feel her try to pull away, he wouldn't have it.

"Logan..." She cautioned him with a quaky voice.

"Nuh-uh." He placed a finger on her lips. "It will be okay. Just focus. Don't be over confident."

He took the finger away and gingerly replaced it with his lips. His mind was screaming at him that he should stop. He was not only being reckless, but he was taking advantage of her confusion. In other words he was being a genuine bastard. He simply told that little voice to shut up.

A mix of relief and pride filled him, when he didn't feel the tingling pain that he had experienced when she had drained him before. All he could feel was her soft lips captured between his own, and her falling into his weight. He held her for that long moment, pressing his mouth more firmly against her's.

He reluctantly released her, knowing that if he let himself go any future he would be pushing his luck. He wouldn't chance ruining what had just happened. Besides, by the heavier breathing on both their parts, they had obviously needed air.

"See. You did it." He moved his hand back to run through her hair. He wasn't sure if she had been learning that well, or if she had suppress her gift with the supreme terror of hurting someone again.

"...I...I did... Why couldn't I be—" Marie tried to question what had just happened, but Logan shushed her again.

"Did anyone tell you that you talk to much?" He joked rather heartily.

Logan didn't stop to let his conscience trouble him. He knew what it would say. It would tell him he was encouraging her, that he was encouraging himself. It would tell him that it was shameful to even think of kissing her. She was only a young girl! Well, nearly a

woman, but who knew how old she was compared to him?

"Why don't you get a shower?" He suggested when the moment collapsed into an awkward silence. "And then try to get some rest. They're dragging you on another field trip tomorrow. Just, don't tell any of the others. It's supposed to be a surprise, something' to let the other kids loosen up a little after what happened and all."

"The secret's safe with me." Marie slipped out of Logan's lap.

When Rogue disappeared out of his view, Wolverine fell back onto the couch and closes his eyes. The same hand that went through Marie's auburn strands now ran by his own head. For an uncounted time he just sat there, thinking to himself.

"Why do you get yourself into these things, Logan..." He whispered to himself

Marie had immediately headed towards the bathrooms. It wasn't until she was safe under the water's steamy waves that she allowed herself to touch her lips. A bubbly feeling rose up in her chest, threatening to burst open and rip her apart.

The remainder of the shower, she let herself play over the moment. In the morning it would end. She knew that Logan would act like nothing happened. She'd let him. In some odd way, she felt like she had broken several unspoken rules.

Guilt could wait. For what Marie cared, the whole world could! For the first time in months, she knew whatever sleep she got tonight would be uninterrupted.


	2. Unraveled

Disclaimer: Please see first chapter.

A/N: I guess this is gonna be a three chapter story! I just can't neatly fit things into two. This chap has a slightly different flavor, but I hope ye like!

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Light broke through the windows of the school bedrooms like it did every morning. Students groaned and scrambled out of their beds before making a mad dash to the bathrooms. To get a hot shower was sometimes a blessing.

Those unfortunate enough to not be woken up by the sun's rays or the scuffling of feet and occasional gasps from people who had stubbed their toes would just roll over and wait for the morning call. One of those sleepers this morning happened to be Marie. She

was tucked happily into her bedding, clinging to her oversized pillow, baring a huge grin on her face.

Turning over she murmured in her sleep contently. The same girl who had tossed the pillow into her face the previous night raised a suspicious brow. She wasn't sure she had ever seen Rogue sleep so deeply.

"Hey, sleepy head. Get up or you'll be the last one out of here." The mutant shook Marie awake carefully.

"Five more minutes..." She groaned. The lack of recuperating sleep was finally catching up with her. When she found herself being shocked with small bits of electricity she finally sat up out of bed.

"Geez, Jubilee. Do ya' really have to do that?" Rogue groaned, going to her dresser drawers to try to find something to throw on.

Glancing at her clock, she realized just how late she was. Suddenly she was extremely glad she had taken a shower before she had settled back in. She threw off her night shirt, praying no one would walk in, and tossed another day time suitable one over her head. A pair of jeans and sandals later, she was making her way down to the hallway where the students were being herded.

Marie scanned the room, not sure what or who she was searching for. On the opposite side of the room she saw Logan leaning on a pillar in the shadows. She gave a casual wave in his direction, not really expecting any response.

"HEY" Rogue nearly left her shoes when a voice came from behind her. The reaction just provoked a set of laughter. "A little jumpy are we?"

"Bobby!" She turned around and hit him playfully in the shoulder. "I just got up!"

"So?" He smirked, wrapping his arms around her waist. Marie fought the urge to wriggle away. For some reason things didn't just seem as conformable as they had been a few days ago.

The white-streaked mutant breathed out quietly in relief as Storm made a note to Bobby about public affection. Normally, Marie would have flushed slightly. But today, she could only give a mental thank you.

She listened with an unusual interest as the student leader told them what groups they'd be splitting up into and what they'd actually be doing. The school's population would be heading out to an amusement part for about two hours, followed by an hour at an art

museum, and then off to a multi-focused concert. A excited chatter covered the group, one Marie joined for the sake of a distraction.

For a similar reason, Marie was glad to find out that even though Logan was being asked to help 'baby sit' she wasn't placed in his group. She really didn't feel like following him around, though she certainly wouldn't go out of her way to avoid either of the men  
in her life that were baffling her. She simply didn't want to have a day filled of the same odd-edged moments like the day Wolverine had come back from his personal journey.

The trip to the park was pleasant. For the hour it took, everything felt completely normal. Or at least, nearly the same of an atmosphere as it had been a few short days ago. Marie spent the time chatting idly with those around her, and trying not to fall back asleep against Bobby's shoulder that he willingly offered.

At the park, Marie indulged in several rides she never would have taken if it weren't for bets that let her rake in a few extra bucks. The food court, though odd and questionably sanitary, offered as many fatting goodies as anyone could dream for. She even won  
herself a large lion plush at one of the carnival style games.

And, the best part, was that the park seemed to be designed with mutants in mind. The park owners seemed to keep in mind that younger mutants, who were still children and a target group, usually didn't have a good control on their powers. Knowing that some had different developments that might interfere with the proper function of some of the rides, they had apparently tried to vary the variety of what the had to offer. In the minds of those who realized this, it was a huge step in their favor.

The remainder of the outing was pleasant. The students had managed to gather more souvenirs then necessary, and were generally content. They were even treated to a half hour at the local mall as a reward for 'good behavior' as the last trip they had an 'incident'  
occurred.

As they walked down the congested halls, one shop window caught Marie's eye. A jewelry shop adorned a display of intricate silver accessories that would make any girl's mouth water. But what interested her the most was a delicate diamond-shined silver chain that was spread out near the bottom corner.

"Uh-oh. Someone pull her away before I'm roped into purchasing that!" Bobby chuckled, leaning down to look  
with her.

"No thanks..." Marie smile, touched by his offer. "The price tag's a little too steep for any of our budgets."

As the group of students walked down the mall strip, Jubilee gained a rather mischievous grin on her face. Marie caught the look and frowned. As things went, the two teenagers were fairly good friends. But she wouldn't put it past Jubes to try to pull a quick card to get a piece of gossip.

"Hey, Bobby!" She exclaimed, leaning on one of his shoulder's. "What have you and Marie been up to lately?"

"Uh...huh?" Iceman looked extremely puzzled.

"It's alright, you don't have to tell us." The dark haired girl threw her hands up in a mock surrender. Her eyes, though, showed that she wasn't quite done. " But whatever it was, Marie was QUITE happy in her sleep...had to shock her to get her moving!"

Rogue blinked, her breath caught in her throat. How can she be doing this! Damn her! She cursed to herself.

"Oh, Jubes, wouldn't you just LOVE to know!" Rogue purposely made her voice colder, a clear warning, as she looped her arm with Bobby's to solidify her message.

Marie's room mate backed off, just as she suspected. Marie made a note to still talk to her about it when they got back. But she was too tired to contemplate too long. At least the ride home would provide as the perfect setting for a well over-due nap!

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"Jubes!" Marie all but shoved her friend into their room before slamming the door behind them.

The nap had refreshed the energy-vampiric like girl quite the much. When she woke up and she saw Jubilee grinning at her like a cheshire cat, it reminded her of the earlier incident. And, of how livid she actually was at her!

It had taken Marie a few hours to cool down enough to not rip off Jubilee's head. But as soon as her friend stopped talking with her romantic crush of the week, Marie had dragged her friend away. This had to be addressed.

"Hey, yeow! Let go!" Jubilee seemed confused. "What's your problem?"

"HOW could you do that to me!" Marie half screamed.

"Do what?"

"In the mall! The whole 'What have you two been doing?' thing! Do you even REALIZE how embarrassing that was!" She shrieked, throwing her arms out.

Marie was about to continue her ranting, when her friend burst out laughing. One jaw dropped. One smirked.

"THAT? Aw, come'on Marie, I was only fooling around! Besides, it's not like anything actually HAPPENED. He kind of got a kick out of it."

"Well I didn't! It's none of your business what I dream about and what I don't!" Marie was growing redder by the second.

"I don't see what your problem is. Everyone got the joke except you, and you even seemed fine with it there!"

The door creaked open. Both girls turned to see Kitty fly in and start rambling on about all the probably useless junk she had grabbed up. Of corse, then, they had to sit through a showing of three bag's contents. Rogue huffed. She wasn't in the mood for this.

"...And, by the way, what were you two fighting about? I could hear yelling all the way down the hall." Kitty added on with the last of her breath.

"Oh, I told Bobby that Rogue was smiling in her sleep and joked that she was dreaming of him. But, apparently, Marie doesn't like the thought of dreaming of her boyfriend..." Jube stopped in middle of her sentence before she gasped.

"I know WHY!" She shrieked. "You were dreaming of somebody else, weren't you!"

Kitty's eyes widened, her shopping high melting away to one of shock. Her teenage gabby-girl mode clicked on instantly. Marie never COULD understand how those two had such an easy switch.

"I-I don't know what your talking about, Jubes!" Marie insisted, throwing her lion cub onto her bed. "That's simply a foolish statement. Then again, I wouldn't expect anything else from you today."

With a slight squeal Kitty pounced over from her bed to Marie's, stopping in front of her. Jubilee blocked her in the back. The embarrassed girl was blocked, with no sign of an escape route.

"You WERE, weren't you!" Jubilee forced Marie to sit down by pressing down at her shoulders. "I knew it!"

"OOOH! Who was it?" Kitty's eyes sparkled. "Come on, Rogue! Tell us! Tell us who this infamous 'man of dreams' is."

Fighting from their space, Marie walked over to the desk by the window, pretending that her assignments needed organization. The two other girls looked at each other. A look of sympathy played across their faces as if they had just realized how awkward they had made their friend feel. They really hadn't intended that.

"Your secret's safe with us! We swear! I'll made sure Jubes doesn't do anything like she did today again!" Kitty pleaded.

"Well, Kits, if she won't tell us who it was, we'll just have to do a little deductive reasoning. And come to think of it now, I think the answer is quite obvious!"

Rogue froze in her spot. This couldn't be good! Slowly she turned around, putting her best unimpressed look onto her face. "Okay, then, smarty pants. Who was it?"

"Wolverine. You were dreaming of Wolverine." Jubilee smirked. "And all this time, I thought you had given up on him. That's why you hooked up with Bobby in the first place, wasn't it?"

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Bobby leaned on his pool stick as he waited for a few of his fellow students to make their shots. His mind really wasn't on the game, anyway. Something had been bothering Marie. She had done a good job at hiding it, but, she just wasn't good enough.

For some reason he couldn't help think about what Jubilee had said to him. It wasn't that he didn't like the thought of him haunting his girlfriend's dreams. It was quite the opposite. It was how the other girl had said it. It was like Jubilee was trying to stir up something. Was something happening to Marie that he didn't know about?

Bobby leaned over the faded green playing table, his eyes fixed on the striped six. He glided the pole across his fingers gracefully, hitting the ball squarely, putting a slight twist in it, helping it to plonk directly into the upper left corner pocket. The other boys nodded, impressed, complimenting him.

"Hey! Iceman!" Bobby straightened up as he heard someone call his name.

Wolverine was leaning against the door frame, looking straight at him. The look on his face made the younger man shiver. He just couldn't get quite used to the older man.

All in all, Bobby respected Logan. His heart was in the right place. And his sense of humor never failed to get the younger. _Plus_ he thought, _he keeps an extra eye out for Marie. _

Iceman wasn't sure why he wasn't jealous of that fact. True, he was well aware of how Rogue once felt about Wolverine right after he had left. But, when he came back, she had stayed beside his side. That, he supposed, was good enough for him.

"What's up?" He leaned his pool stick against the nearby wall before striding over to the other man.

"Follow me." Logan said, nodding his head outside.

"Uh...okay?" Bobby was slightly confused.

Logan walked through the halls and out one of the back doors that lead to a balcony. When there, he promptly lit one of his trademark cigars. He seemed to look over the younger man a few times before he shrugged. The older man then reached into his pocket to fish something out.

"Here." Logan handed the item, a small white box, to Bobby.

"I didn't know you cared!" Iceman mocked the action, batting his eyelashes. The mock turned in to a submissive eyebrow raise when he saw Logan's face harden.

Opening the box, Bobby became speechless. Inside was the same silver chain that Rogue had been eying at the stores. Bobby shook his head and thrust the gift back at Logan.

"Hey, man, I appreciate the thought, but I can't take this." He had seen the price tag with his own eyes. There was no way he was going to take something like that.

"It's not FOR you." Logan said simply. "Look, she wanted it, you wanted to get it for her. I'm just a short cut. Besides, I won't return it, and I'm not letting the money go to waste. If you don't give it to her, I will. Personally, I don't think I'd want to hear the rumors that would spread around after. She doesn't need that."

Bobby blinked. He did have a point. He didn't want to see Marie try to hide it or never wear it simply because she was uneasy with who it came from.

"Thanks." Bobby placed the box in his pocket. "I owe you one."

"No, you owe me about seventy. But, who's counting." Logan shot him a quick smile. "Ya' know what? Just make her happy. Don't hurt her."

" I won't." Iceman didn't like the way the last statement had sounded. Why would he ever want to hurt her? Logan's protectiveness of her was getting slightly out of line tonight.

As Bobby was turning away to go back inside he stopped when Wolverine called his name again. When he turned around he saw another something come flying away. Catching it, he saw that it was a silver dog tag. On it the letters R-O-G-U-E were etched. The letters were even underlined by four thin claw like scratches.

"She seemed to like mine. So I thought she would like her own." Logan explained. "You don't have to give that to her." He added hastily.

Bobby became tense. The tag with her name was fine. But why the scratch marks? It occurred to him that Wolverine wasn't just being friendly. He was testing him! Or, testing Rogue. _Even worse, What if he's warning me_ Bobby cringed.

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Bobby walked past the door that lead to the girl's half of the student section. He had a half hour until he'd be tossed out, that would be plenty of time. Besides, he just planned on picking Marie up any way. In his right pocket the little white box set. In his left the dog tag remained.

As he approached the room he was headed towards, he heard raised voices. Was something wrong? He walked a little bit faster to catch the conversation.

"Wolverine. You were dreaming of Wolverine." He heard Jubilee's voice. "And all this time, I thought you had given up on him. That's why you hooked up with Bobby in the first place, wasn't it?"

Bobby's heart stopped momentarily. He had walked to fast. Instead of being outside the door, he found himself standing in the doorway itself. tried fool himself into thinking Jubilee was talking to someone else. But the last sentence made it impossible. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Bobby!" Marie gasped as she noticed him, after glancing over both of the other girls' shoulders.

"Well. At least I know why you were so rigid today." He gritted his teeth.

"Bobby." Marie broke through the other two to go to him and pull him into the room. " I never said Jubes was right! She's just trying to pry to see something that isn't there!"

Jubilee and Kitty took the cue. They weren't numb. They were out of the room within a heart beat, being careful to close the door behind them.

"Then tell me. Was she right? Were you dreaming of him?" Bobby demanded.

Marie took in a deep breath, trying to collect her thoughts. This had to come out right. If it didn't... she didn't even want to think that way. It WOULD work.

"Yes, Bobby, I did dream of him." She saw his fists clench. "But him leaving wasn't the reason that I'm with you."

"I accepted when you asked me to be with you because of you." She took his hand into her gloved, squeezing it gently. " When we met, you were so sweet to me, so kind. You always knew what was going on in my mind, and you were already the best friend someone could ask for. The more I got to know you, the more you grew on me. Please. Don't let one stupid dream ruin what we've got, hun."

Rogue heard herself saying the words, but she wasn't sure if she believed all of them. He was all that she said, but was that truly why she had accepted him? Either way, she didn't want her relationship with him to collapse because of her idiotic subconscious. What would be worse, was to loose his friendship or trust.

She couldn't live with herself if it turned out that she had been lying for these past couple of months. If she had been using him, even unintentionally, it would make her sick. She already felt her stomach churning.

"Please." She begged, "Say something."

"Was he good?"

"WHAT!" Marie shrieked.

"In your dream. Was Logan good at whatever he was doing?" Bobby tried to hold back laughter at the look on her face. To taunt her more, he backed away, opened the door with one of his hands, and opened it before adding. "Or could he not make you squirm?" With that he started running down the hall.

"BOBBY DRAKE YOU GET BACK HERE!" Marie, flushed three shades of red screamed as she scrambled after him. This was NOT the reaction she had expected.

The cat and mouse chase began. Both of them twisted and turned down corners, avoiding students' questioning looks and teacher's warnings for them to slow down. Bobby lead her half way through the school before he broke out through one of the exits and out into one of the gardens.

Once outside, Marie caught up with him, and grabbed his wrist to pull him backwards. When she did, he was laughing so hard, his face matched hers in color. Marie didn't know if she should be relieved or enraged.

"How can you laugh like that?" She gaped.

"The look...on your face.." He coughed a few times, relieving the pain in his chest. When he could breath normally he continued.

"Marie, look..." He pulled her closer. "It was just a dream. To hear it just kind of shook me. I mean, you can't control what your mind sends you images of! If so, I sure as hell wouldn't have visions of pigs skating around me."

Rogue just shook her head. As angry as she was for a moment, she felt as if one layer of trouble was off her shoulders. If only she could bring herself to tell him about the previous night...

Bobby took her other hand and lead her further into the garden. Finding a bench, he sat her down. He reached into his right pocket to pull out the white box.

"Besides... If I was angry at you for too long, I couldn't give you this." He smirked as he presented the chain to her.

"Oh Bobby!" She gasped as she took it into her fingers. "How did you...Why...It's..."

"I have my ways." He shrugged, delighted with how much she liked it. He was prepared for the hug that almost toppled him over. "Woah!"

The hug lasted for a few moments. Bobby held her there, taking his time with the next part of the conversation. He didn't want to ruin this moment, but procrastinating wasn't going to make things any better.

"Oh..." He pulled a way a bit. "Logan wanted me to give this to you." He took out the tag, and placed it onto the leather palm that he raised up.

Marie just stared at the metal piece for a moment. Her gut reaction was to choke back the waterworks that wanted to rise, and she did manage that. But it knotted her throat painfully. The fact that Logan had realized how much his own tag had meant to her was one thing. For him to try to extend another comfort to her threatened to pull her over the edge.

"Maybe he thought it would look good on the chain?" Bobby offered, trying to distract Marie.

"...M..Maybe." She replied, turning the tag over a few times.

The garden hummed with bugs. It echoed with silence. But it screamed with warning.

" Marie... You say that you care for me. I know you do. But I can't help but wonder. I love you." Marie looked up to him with shock all over her face.

"I love you... but I...I don't think you love me. You can't. You won't let yourself." He continued. She looked over her shoulder to stare ate the empty garden. " Somewhere in there, I think your still holding onto some kind of hope that he'll notice you as a woman, not as a little girl."

"Bobby, please, don't--" Her voice broke.

"No, Marie. I have to say this. You want him to see you. But your afraid. Your afraid of the gossip. Your afraid the administration here won't let you be together. But the most of all, I think your afraid of loosing me. You do care for me. I don't know how deeply, truly, but you do."

"What you don't know, Marie, is that you could never loose me." Bobby placed a hand on her shoulder. "I won't stop loving you. But if I can't make you completely happy... Then there's no sense of me trapping you."

Iceman stood up, leaving her sitting. "I don't like saying this. I hate the thought of you leaving me. I don't want you to, the heavens know that. But if I am going to loose you, at least I'll be loosing you to some decent guy and not some pretty boy. And if not, well, then I guess there was no sense of me saying this."

"You don't have to say anything now. I don't want you to. Just, please, think. Please." Bobby turned his back on her and walked back into the school leaving Marie there alone with her thoughts.


End file.
